Kunta Kinteh, a rebellious slave, brought to America in 1767, is one of Gambia's greatest heroes.  His life was described by his descendant, Alex Haley, in the bestseller Roots, of which a very popular series was made in the 1970s. I was looking for those 'roots' in the small village of Juffureh on the island that was named after him, in the middle of the Gambia River.

Colour photography was already well advanced in the late 19th century, but was prohibitively expensive. Around 1890 the Swiss company Orell Füssli developed the photochromy: the manual colouring of black and white negatives and printing by means of lithography stones. Photoshopping avant la lettre, a technique that became well known by the American Detroit Photographic Company, which produced a large number of photochromic postcards around 1900. From the first colour photos of France, we made a selection of 22 beautiful photochromic prints of cities and tourist attractions, from Calais to Marseille. 

The Eiffel Tower blows out 133 candles, metaphorically speaking, because as many years ago this typical Parisian icon has been inaugurated solemnly. Even before it was put up as the business card for the world exhibition of 1889 it was already controversial and the intention was that after 20 years it would already disappear again. A giraffe cage according to some, and a treasure to others but heavy is the head that wears the crown. Anecdotes have accumulated over the years and as a birthday present we have put together a list of the 10 most remarkable facts. Happy birthday, sexy Eiffel Tower!

In the narrow streets of 19th century Stone Town (Unesco world heritage) the doors are an attraction on their own. Every one of them is a piece of massive art with elegant woodcarving. At the same time they are a sample of all the cultures that were important for the Zanzibari architecture. Each and every door tells us a story and shows us the social status of the first inhabitants of the houses. We walk with local Shabaan in the labyrinthof the Zanzibari capital and we pushmore then once literally an open door.

Darwin did it with The Beagle, I discovered the Galapagos with The Athala, a small catamaran. The pioneers in 1535 thought they arrived in hell when they saw big amounts of gruesome iguanas, but for me the Galapagos are like heaven, a timeless dimension where the beauty of nature lifts you up and where animals are your only contact with the world. The volcanic island group resembles an immense ark of Noah, a wet dream for every nature lover in an almost virgin scenery.

Although Mozambique is peaceful since 1992, the country still has to cope with its warzone image. Despite having gotten through their full Pandora’s box package of civil wars, floods, starvation and endless dry periods; today it is Africa’s fasted growing economy. The people are optimistic, friendly and hospitable. The country has 1500 miles (2500km) of coastline with idyllic beaches, and the coral reefs belong to the most beautiful of the world. The Niassa wildlife reserve, located in the north, is nearly twice as large as the Kruger National Park. So it is high time to look from a different perspective at Africa’s latest hotspot .

Belleville was just like its neighbour Montmartre a rural district with vineyards and windmills, where the French bourgeoisie enjoyed their country houses. After Haussmann’s renovations of the French capital in 1871, it became a nest of free minded people and the last  communards  kept fierce resistance. Afterwards factories showed up and the laborers settled in Belleville, later decay followed. Today Belleville is trendier than ever because the neighbourhood buzzes and developed into a trendy area for artists. One metro ride away from the busy center you arrive in a charming part of Paris that often does everything diametrically opposed to everyone else.

On the  Boulevard de Clichy  were the absinthe-drinking bohemians of the Parisian Belle Époque once found inspiration and entertainment, you walk today under the neon light of the numerous sex shops.  Place du Tertre  is crammed and souvenir shops seem to push out each other. Montmartre (la Butte) was certainly considerably more idyllic when Toulouse-Lautrec characterized the debauched life of  Place Pigalle  and the  Moulin Rouge . After years of my self declared velvet ‘boycott’, again I walk through the up- and down running streets of the neighbourhood and I rediscover the hidden charms of the trampled down Parisian area. Montmartre revisited.  

Thai cuisine has conquered the world over the last 25 years. In just about every European city you can nowadays find Thai restaurants, but also other continents are more and more captivated by what I believe is the most original and most delicious food in the world. It is a cuisine of a 1000 perfumes, a patchwork of tastes, odors and colors. As Thai cuisine was never influenced by any other culture because Thailand was never colonized. Lately however, there are some new trends. Traditional versus trendy: a difficult choice.